Rusholme supermarket gets £20k fine for selling beef dressed as lamb

A MANCHESTER supermarket that supplies meat to restaurants and takeaways has been ordered to pay more than £20,000, having been caught selling lamb mince that contained 50% beef.

Manchester Superstore (Rusholme) Limited, which has a supermarket on Wilmslow Road, was found guilty of selling food not of the nature demanded after a representative of the company failed to turn up to a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.

It was fined £20,000 for the offence and ordered to pay £1,676 costs with a £120 victims of crime surcharge.

As part of a series of inspections across the city in 2014, following the UK horse meat scandal, Manchester City Council’s food hygiene officers visited a number of outlets in a bid to combat food fraud and took samples of meat to be analysed.

A sample of ‘lamb’ taken from a Rusholme takeaway was found to contain 28% beef. The takeaway stated it was oblivious to the bogus meat which was supplied by Manchester Superstore.

In June 2014 investigating Environmental Health officers visited Manchester Superstore and found it was selling mince as lamb, when it actually contained 80% beef – a meat that is half the price.

Officers returned to Manchester Superstore in early July to advise management of the test results and instructed them to ensure any food sold is correctly described.

Despite the warning, meat sampled by officers on a further visit in late August indicated the lamb contained 50% beef and 1% chicken.

At the Manchester Magistrates’ hearing on August 26, the chairman of the bench indicated the substantial fine was imposed because it was a supermarket, it had ignored previous warnings and because it was supplying nearby restaurants and takeaways. 

Councillor Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council’s executive member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Let the size of the fine warn other unscrupulous traders that practices like this are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We will continue to clamp down on anyone who tries to cut costs by misleading the public and selling substitute food.”